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Friday, September 12th, 2025
the Week of Proper 18 / Ordinary 23
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Read the Bible

Douay-Rheims Bible

Judges 14:11

And when the citizens of that place saw him, they brought him thirty companions to be with him.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Bridegroom;   Samson;   Thompson Chain Reference - Bridegroom;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Marriage;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Marriage;   Miracle;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Timnath;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Marriage;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Insects;   Judges, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Levi;   Marriage;   Philistines;   Samson;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Marriage;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Reign of the Judges;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Lion;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Marriage;   Song of Songs, the;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
When the Philistines saw him, they brought thirty men to accompany him.
Hebrew Names Version
It happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
King James Version
And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
Lexham English Bible
When they saw him, they took thirty companions, and they were with him.
English Standard Version
As soon as the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.
New Century Version
When the people saw him, they sent thirty friends to be with him.
New English Translation
When the Philistines saw he had no attendants, they gave him thirty groomsmen who kept him company.
Amplified Bible
When the people saw him, they brought thirty companions (wedding attendants) to be with him.
New American Standard Bible
When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And when they sawe him, they brought thirtie companions to be with him.
Legacy Standard Bible
En toe hulle hom sien, neem hulle dertig vriende om by hom te wees.
Contemporary English Version
When the Philistines saw what Samson was like, they told thirty of their young men to stay with him at the party.
Complete Jewish Bible
When the P'lishtim saw him, they provided thirty companions to be with him.
Darby Translation
And it came to pass when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions, and they were with him.
Easy-to-Read Version
When the Philistines saw that he was having a party, they sent 30 men to be with him.
George Lamsa Translation
And when they saw him, there came thirty men and became his groomsmen.
Good News Translation
When the Philistines saw him, they sent thirty young men to stay with him.
Literal Translation
And it happened when they saw him, they took thirty companions, and they were with him.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And whan they sawe him, they gaue him thirtie companyons to be with him.
American Standard Version
And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
Bible in Basic English
And he took thirty friends, and they were with him.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And whe they sawe him, they brought thirtie companions to be with him.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
King James Version (1611)
And it came to passe when they saw him, that they brought thirtie companions to be with him.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And it came to pass when they saw him, that they took thirty guests, and they were with him.
English Revised Version
And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
Berean Standard Bible
And when the Philistines saw him, they selected thirty men to accompany him.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor whanne the citeseyns of that place hadden seyn hym, thei yauen to hym thretti felowis, whiche schulen be with hym.
Young's Literal Translation
and it cometh to pass when they see him, that they take thirty companions, and they are with him.
Update Bible Version
And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
Webster's Bible Translation
And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
World English Bible
It happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
New King James Version
And it happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
New Living Translation
When the bride's parents saw him, they selected thirty young men from the town to be his companions.
New Life Bible
When the people saw him, they brought thirty friends to be with him.
New Revised Standard
When the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And it came to pass, because they feared him, that they took thirty companions, who remained with him.
Revised Standard Version
And when the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.

Contextual Overview

10 So his father went down to the woman, and made a feast for his son Samson: for so the young men used to do. 11 And when the citizens of that place saw him, they brought him thirty companions to be with him. 12 And Samson said to them: I will propose to you a riddle, which if you declare unto me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty shirts, and as many coats: 13 But if you shall not be able to declare it, you shall give me thirty shirts and the same number of coats. They answered him: Put forth the riddle, that we may hear it. 14 And he said to them: Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not for three days expound the riddle. 15 And when the seventh day came, they said to the wife of Samson: Sooth thy husband, and persuade him to tell thee what the riddle meaneth. But if thou wilt not do it, we will burn thee, and thy father’s house. Have you called us to the wedding on purpose to strip us? 16 So she wept before Samson and complained, saying: Thou hatest me, and dost not love me: therefore thou wilt not expound to me the riddle, which thou hast proposed to the sons of my people. But he answered: I would not tell it to my father and mother: and how can I tell it to thee? 17 So she wept before him the seven days of the feast: and, at length, on the seventh day, as she was troublesome to him, he expounded it. And she immediately told her countrymen. 18 And they, on the seventh day before the sun went down, said to him: What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them: If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you had not found out my riddle. 19 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ascalon, and slew there thirty men whose garments he took away, and gave to them that had declared the riddle. And being exceeding angry, he went up to his father’s house:

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

saw him: 1 Samuel 10:23, 1 Samuel 16:6

thirty: Matthew 9:15, John 3:29

Reciprocal: Job 41:6 - General Song of Solomon 8:13 - the companions Mark 2:19 - Can Luke 5:34 - the children

Cross-References

Genesis 12:5
And he took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all the substance which they had gathered, and the souls which they had gotten in Haran: and they went out to go into the land of Chanaan. And when they were come into it,
Genesis 14:16
And he brought back all the substance, and Lot his brother, with his substance, the women also, and the people.
Genesis 14:21
And the king of Sodom said to Abram: Give me the persons, and the rest take to thyself.
Deuteronomy 28:31
May thy ox be slain before thee, and thou not eat thereof. May thy ass be taken away in thy sight, and not restored to thee. May thy sheep be given to thy enemies, and may there be none to help thee.
Deuteronomy 28:35
May the Lord strike thee with a very sore ulcer in the knees and in the legs, and be thou incurable from the sole of the foot to the top of the head.
Deuteronomy 28:51
And will devour the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruits of thy land: until thou be destroyed, and will leave thee no wheat, nor wine, nor oil, nor herds of oxen, nor flocks of sheep: until he destroy thee.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it came to pass; when they saw him,.... That is, the Philistines, the citizens of Timnath, when they saw that he was come to consummate his marriage:

that they brought thirty companions to be with him; to be the bridegroom's men, or children of the bridechamber, as they are called, Matthew 9:15 or friends of the bridegroom, John 3:29 to keep him company during the nuptial feast: this they did according to custom, and in honour and respect unto him; though some think, and so Josephus l, that they were brought to be guards upon him, observing that he was a man of great might, strength, and courage, so that they were afraid of him, lest he should have some design upon them; but it is not certain that there was anything very visible or terrible in him, more than in another man, that showed him to be of extraordinary courage and strength, since it was but at times the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and as yet he had done nothing to their knowledge which showed him to be such; had they indeed known of his encounter with the lion, they might have had such thoughts of him, but this they knew nothing of.

l Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 8. sect. 6.)

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thirty companions - These were “the children of the bride-chamber” (Matthew 9:15; see Judges 14:20). From the number of them it may be inferred that Samson’s family was of some wealth and importance.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 14:11. They brought thirty companions — These are called in Scripture children of the bride-chamber, and friends of the bridegroom. See the whole of this subject particularly illustrated in the observations at the end, Clarke "John 3:25".


 
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